An Emerald Rock tiered ship navigated through the Chaos Sea, arriving at the other shore's ferry port and slowly berthing under the guidance of the port's garrison commander.
"We have found the Three Realms!" announced two scouts aboard the ship.
The commander was greatly shaken. He hurriedly said, "Follow me! I will take you to see the Grand Dao Lord!"
The two scouts kept pace with him as they hurried away.
***
In the Three Realms, the Great Dao of heaven and earth grew increasingly complete under the empowerment of the Primordial Source core. Glowing mists of the Great Dao concealed themselves within the void and withdrew into the mountains and rivers.
In the Heavenly Dao Ancestral Court, the Ancestral God's blood and qi surged. Boundless spiritual energy flowed from the universe in an endless, inexhaustible stream, causing his Dharmic power and divine essence to climb unceasingly!
The Ancestral God was utterly astonished. Standing within the ancestral court, he looked up at the cosmos of the Three Realms, unsure where this transformation originated. He saw the cosmos expanding ever larger, while the Great Dao of heaven and earth grew weighty and primitive, condensing upon his body almost as if it were physical matter.
"What is making me so powerful?" the Ancestral God murmured.
Xu Ying had instructed the Far Ancestor to inform the Holy Venerable, Useless Qingxuan, and the others, but had not notified him. Because he was the cosmic primordial spirit, he did not need to study or comprehend the Primordial Source core; once the Three Realms recovered, he would naturally grasp the new Daos added to heaven and earth.
Just then, the Ancestral God saw streaks of light plunging toward the Three Realms across the cosmic canopy.
His mind trembled as he sensed the invasion of alien Great Daos from those streaks of light.
At the cosmic fringes, more Former Court ruins came into view. These ruins were not in the same location as the ones Xu Ying and the others had visited previously, so they had not been suppressed by the Zhuxian Sword Formation. They had merely been submerged and hidden beneath the Chaos Sea until this cosmic expansion caused the Chaos Sea to recede, exposing them once more.
Now, ancient ruins shook violently, abruptly tearing away from the cosmic wreckage of the Former Court era and hurtling toward the Three Realms!
These detached ruins—the larger ones spanning a thousand li across, the smaller ones spanning over a hundred li—transformed into streaks of fiery light.
Suddenly, one ruin broke free from the Former Court wreckage and arrived at the place suppressed by the Zhuxian Sword Formation behind the Grand Dao Master.
Within the ruin, a gaunt, slender figure slowly drew out a stone sword, whereupon the ruin tore through the void and flew away. With that stone sword removed, the other stone swords driven deep into the ground also trembled, rising higher and higher. Finally, all the stone swords leaped into the air and crashed down, shattering to pieces across the earth.
Those stone swords were merely ordinary stone swords, not any remarkable treasures. It was only the terrifying power of the sword formation that had bestowed such immense might upon common rock.
Within the ruins, powerful figures manifested one after another, bowing toward the skeleton of the Grand Dao Master.
"Our thanks to the Grand Dao Master for his protection!"
At their current speed, it would take roughly half a year to enter the Three Realms.
***
The Primordial Source core held in Xu Ying's hands melted away completely, merging into the Three Realms like a gentle spring breeze turning to rain. Without the core, Xu Ying felt a faint emptiness in his heart.
Suddenly, streams of Hongmeng purple qi surged forth one after another, pouring into his body and leaving him momentarily stunned.
The Hongmeng purple qi pouring from the void was remarkably intense and pure, carrying within it the purest Dao of Hongmeng to nourish his Hongmeng Cave Abyss.
In the past, he had received the Hongmeng purple qi of the Three Realms for proving the viability of the New Dao—a manifestation of his karmic virtue that he had refined into a Hongmeng Dao scene—yet his understanding of the Hongmeng Great Dao had remained limited.
It was only after his trip to the Heavenly Immortal Realm, where he learned a Hongmeng cultivation technique of the other shore from Princess Mingman, that Xu Ying had formed his Hongmeng Cave Abyss and truly engaged with the Hongmeng Great Dao. Now that he had merged the Primordial Source core into the Three Realms, Hongmeng purple qi had manifested between heaven and earth once more. What was even more extraordinary was that the Hongmeng Dao within it was far purer than the Hongmeng Dao he had painstakingly cultivated inside his own cave abyss!
As this qi entered his body, every principle of the Hongmeng Great Dao became self-evident to Xu Ying without any need for conscious enlightenment. His Dao attainment advanced by leaps and bounds, and he naturally grasped the principle of Hongmeng transforming into myriad Daos.
What was more, the Hongmeng Great Dao showed signs of attaining the Indestructible realm ahead of all his other Daos!
This was the karmic virtue amassed by mending the heavens and mending the Dao with the Primordial Source—virtue second only to opening the heavens and creating the Three Realms. Endowed with such merit, which exceeded that of a New Dao Ancestor a hundredfold, it was capable of propelling his Hongmeng Dao to achieve the Indestructible realm first!
Xu Ying made a prompt decision. He used his Martial Dao Cave Abyss to absorb the Hongmeng Dao, keeping himself from proving the Indestructible realm just yet. It was not that he refused to achieve Dao attainment, but cultivating Hongmeng had never been his true intent. Although he had obtained the true essence of the Hongmeng Great Dao from heaven and earth, he had never made substantial personal breakthroughs in it, whereas he had immersed himself in Martial Dao and Taiyi for a very long time. If he attained the Dao through Hongmeng, both Taiyi and his Martial Dao would be relegated to mere subordinates—something he could not accept.
"Dao Ancestor Xu, look beyond the heavens!" Emperor Mingdao exclaimed in shock.
Xu Ying looked up toward the outer cosmos. Streaks of fiery light had appeared across the starry sky, hurtling toward the Three Realms.
"The Immortals from the Former Court era have mobilized."
Under no circumstances could these decayed beings be permitted to set foot in the Three Realms!
"Holy Venerable, how long until you can break through and achieve the Indestructible realm?" Xu Ying inquired.
The Holy Venerable smiled proudly. "Half a year at most!"
"I give you three months."
"What about you, Emperor Qingxuan?"
Useless Qingxuan replied lazily, "It depends on fate."
"Cultivate diligently. In three months, you will take the battlefield—try not to get beaten to death," Xu Ying encouraged him.
Useless Qingxuan glared at him, then glanced at his beloved wife Qiongtai, hesitating slightly.
Xu Ying took to the air, landing on Yuan Weiyang's golden ship. "Weiyang, let us head to the Heavenly Dao Ancestral Court."
***
Inside the Heavenly Dao Ancestral Court, the Ancestral God was staring up at the sudden streaks of light. Right then, the gate of Heavenly Dao blasted apart as Yuan Weiyang steered the golden ship forward, crushing the gate and barging in with a roar.
"Ancestral God! When I mended the heavens and the Dao just now, did your cultivation increase substantially?" Xu Ying called out from afar.
The Ancestral God had been about to lose his temper, but upon hearing those words, his anger vanished instantly. He beamed and said, "Ah Ying, the Three Realms suddenly expanded, and the Daos of heaven and earth grew more numerous and potent than before—so it was your doing after all. In the future, when entering and leaving the ancestral court, just knock on the door and I will come greet you myself."
Xu Ying laughed. "The situation was pressing, so I had to take a shortcut. Did you notice the fiery lights in the starry sky, Ancestral God?"
The Ancestral God nodded.
Xu Ying smiled and said, "Those streaks of fire are experts from before the Dragon Court era, ruins formed from their Dao realms. Might I trouble you to go intercept them first and buy us some time?"
The Ancestral God looked at him suspiciously. "Why aren't you going?"
"I will join you."
Hearing this, the Ancestral God breathed a sigh of relief, though some suspicion lingered. "Is the Far Ancestor going?"
Xu Ying considered the Far Ancestor's capabilities and hesitated. "Having the Far Ancestor go isn't out of the question, but... you would have to watch out for him a bit..."
Seeing his reaction, the Ancestral God grew even more suspicious. "Are the enemies very strong?"
"Just a few crippled Immortals who have been entangled by tribulation-fortune and worn down to the bone," Xu Ying said with a smile. "I have personally clashed with them before; most are inferior to me."
The Ancestral God breathed easily at last and laughed. "If that is the case, I shall pay them a visit. I'll go fetch the Far Ancestor first!"
Xu Ying bowed. "Respectful farewell, Ancestral God!"
The Ancestral God chuckled. "You act so solemn, you'd make me think I'm going to my death."
With a flash of his silhouette, he turned into innate indestructible spiritual light and shot through the void, moving at an astonishing speed.
"The Ancestral God's cultivation and strength have indeed improved tremendously. Let's hope he can hold them off for a while!"
Xu Ying sighed with relief and turned to Yuan Weiyang. "Stay in the ancestral court to cultivate for now. In three months, both you and I will have to march onto the battlefield."
Yuan Weiyang agreed and devoted herself to cultivation.
***
In the Craftsmen Department.
Daoist Yuji and Zhu Chanchan spoke in unison, their tones stiff and unyielding: "Find someone else!"
Xu Ying smiled. "It is acceptable even if their power is somewhat diminished."
Daoist Yuji's expression eased slightly. "Would ninety-nine percent weaker be acceptable?"
Xu Ying looked troubled.
Daoist Yuji said, "Being only ninety-nine percent weaker is already extraordinary. Dao Ancestor Xu, do not force the impossible."
Xu Ying turned toward Zhu Chanchan, who chimed in, "One percent of the Zhuxian Sword's power is already comparable to a Supreme treasure, or at least a Golden Immortal artifact."
Xu Ying hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Please forge them as quickly as possible. I will need them in three months."
Daoist Yuji and Zhu Chanchan both frowned deeply. Xu Ying probed, "Is it impossible to finish them?"
Zhu Chanchan shook her head. "It isn't that we can't forge them, but forging the exact same treasure day in and day out is boring and annoying to death."
Daoist Yuji nodded in agreement.
Xu Ying let out a sigh of relief. "Every Heavenly Craftsman in the Heavenly Craftsmen Department and the entire treasury of the Celestial Court are at your disposal, regardless of cost. My father, Emperor Jing, will have people mine immortal gold with all their might and transport even more immortal metals and materials for you to squander!"
Only then did the expressions of master and disciple soften. Daoist Yuji said, "In three months, three thousand swords."
Xu Ying left immediately. Stamping his foot, he sank into the Netherworld.
By now, the Netherworld had also grown vastly broader. With the Great Dao of heaven and earth restored, the strength of the Four Emperors of the Netherworld had likewise surged, lending them the true demeanor of rulers of the underworld. The Samsara Female Emperor in particular stirred her Samsara Ring, causing countless souls of mortals, gods, ghosts, and immortals to struggle within reincarnation—an utterly profound and wondrous sight!
Unfortunately, Xu Ying had no time to exchange greetings with her and sped past in a flash.
The Four Emperors of the Netherworld looked on in astonishment as he streaked across the underworld sky like a shooting star without stopping.
Xu Ying arrived at the Nether Sea, crossed it in a flash, and reached the ancient Nether Sea of the Ancestral Court Netherworld.
In the Ancestral Court Netherworld, the Ten Hall Yanluos governed the realm. When Xu Ying mended the heavens and the Dao, the underworlds of other lands had expanded with the completion of the Great Dao, yet the Great Dao of the Ancestral Court Netherworld alone had not grown.
Strangely enough, the ancestral court was also part of the Earth Immortal Realm. Back when the Tide of the Three Realms caused the myriad worlds to merge into the Earth Immortal Realm, the Ancestral Court Netherworld had not merged with the other underworlds, remaining independent and disconnected from them.
Now, the Earth Immortal Realm's underworld had connected with that of the Mortal Realm, allowing the magic power of Meng Po and the Four Emperors of the Netherworld to extend into the Mortal Realm, yet it uniquely could not reach the Ancestral Court Netherworld.
Though bizarre, this anomaly had drawn little attention.
The Ten Hall Yanluos were busy judging the sins committed by souls in life, rewarding virtue and punishing evil, when suddenly the nine-curved ox horns where the ten halls resided began to shake violently.
Startled, the Ten Hall Yanluos flew out of their respective immortal palaces and looked downward. Amidst the Nether Sea, upon the ox horns, countless souls were trekking across the horns as though traversing a world of molten lava. At that moment, terrified by the divine might of a colossal skeleton, these souls knelt in terror, chanting a divine name.
The language issuing from their mouths was not human speech, but an obscure Dao tongue.
The Ten Hall Yanluos wore solemn expressions. They had never heard this Dao language before, yet the meaning conveyed by it was unmistakable.
"Tu Bo!"
The ox-headed skeleton stamped its foot heavily, and ancient ruins hidden beneath the Nether Sea slowly surfaced from the depths.
The underworld Dao of the Former Court era erupted, crashing in every direction. Even with the Ten Hall Yanluos being the heaven-and-earth primordial spirits of Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun, they were shaken so violently they could barely keep their footing!
The ox-headed skeleton shook its frame and inhaled deeply. Instantly, souls took flight across the sky, plunging into its mouth one after another.
The Ten Hall Yanluos could not maintain their ground either, being drawn toward its maw by the suction!
Right at that moment, the underworld sky abruptly shattered. Xu Ying raised the Zhuxian Sword, using it as the formation eye to manifest sword qi from nothingness, descending with the Zhuxian Sword Formation pressing downward!
The ox-headed skeleton raised its head and reached downward with a heavy grasp. Boundless soulfire coalesced into a whip of flame, which cracked through space-time with a loud snap as it swept toward Xu Ying!
"My comprehension of the Primordial Source these past few years was not in vain!"
Xu Ying bellowed as the formation bore down. The Zhuxian Sword Formation annihilated heaven and earth, severing every Great Dao.
The ox-headed skeleton raised its other fleshless hand and threw a punch straight at Xu Ying. With a booming thud, the void behind Xu Ying violently exploded!
Xu Ying clenched his other hand into a fist, mobilizing all his cultivation. His seven great cave abysses and the two primordial qis of the Beginning and Origin condensed entirely within his Martial Dao Cave Abyss, as though wielding the very might of heaven and earth's genesis, to meet the incoming strike head-on!
*Boom!*
The clash of two peerless powerhouses felt as though a terrifying space-time tempest had erupted across the Ancestral Court Netherworld, shredding everything in its path!
The Ten Hall Yanluos hurriedly fled the underworld. Only after the tempest subsided did they return, witnessing Xu Ying strike the top of the ox-headed skeleton's skull with his sword. The blow forced the skeleton to crash downward with a resounding thud, yet the strike still failed to split the skull open!
Xu Ying raised his hand and pressed his five fingers down. Colossal pillars of sword qi tens of thousands of zhang high hissed through the air, descending from the sky to plant themselves all around the ox-headed skeleton.
Before the skeleton could make another move, the Zhuxian Sword Formation suddenly erupted, suppressing the skeleton along with the entire Former Court era ruin and driving them deep beneath the Nether Sea until only the two nine-curved ox horns remained above the water.
Xu Ying sat cross-legged between the two ox horns, sustaining the formation to suppress this Former Court powerhouse who had long lurked within the Three Realms and somehow avoided the tribulation-fortune. He said in a deep voice, "Brother Taiyi, I shall remain here to suppress him for three months. Go to the Celestial Court's Heavenly Craftsmen Department, and in three months, bring me my swords!"
***
Three months later, a radiance suddenly appeared in the Ancestral Court Netherworld. The Ten Hall Yanluos descended from the sky, each waving their hands to send flying swords whistling toward Xu Ying, shouting, "Dao Ancestor Xu, receive the swords!"
Xu Ying's primordial spirit flew forth, enveloped in Dao light. Three thousand flying swords formed a forest of blades pointing downward. Xu Ying's primordial spirit tempered them with all its might, imprinting his own Great Dao onto each one.
After nearly half a day, Xu Ying activated the sword incantation and mobilized the formation. Three thousand flying swords rained down with a piercing whistle, and the Zhuxian Sword Formation erupted!
Heaven and earth shattered, myriad Daos perished, and boundless killing intent swept through, pulverizing everything. The ruins beneath the Nether Sea and the Former Court powerhouse within them were thoroughly obliterated!
The terrifying killing intent even pierced through the underworld, forcing the Ten Hall Yanluos to shield their faces with their hands to avoid being harmed by the sword light.
When the sword light finally settled and they looked again, they saw Xu Ying's form transforming into a streak of light that soared into the sky, tearing through the void and vanishing into the distance!
"The three months are up—I depart!"
Chapter 717